House Republicans are calling on President Joe Biden and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reject anti-agriculture remarks made by the administration's climate czar John Kerry.
Kerry recently called out the agriculture industry for its representing 33% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and Transportation Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., were among the 27 House Republicans to call on Biden and Vilsack to condemn Kerry's attack on agriculture, food supply, and farming in America.
"Our Ag industry has made massive strides in reducing global emissions and producing more with less," Alford tweeted on Monday. "They should be applauded, not shamed. That's exactly why 26 of my colleagues and I sent a letter to Biden demanding he condemns Kerry's remarks."
The tweet linked to report on the letter signed by 27 House Republicans.
"We strongly urge you to denounce Kerry's remarks," the GOP lawmaker letter read, according to reports. "These comments are a blatant slap in the face to the hardworking individuals that spend their lives sustainably producing our world's food, fuel, and fiber.
"Although the world agriculture industry accounts for 22% of global GHG emissions, Kerry's alarmist narrative does not tell the full story of American agriculture."
"American farmers and ranchers are committed to being stewards of the land.
"We are appalled by the comments made by [Kerry] and ask that your administration recognize the responsible efforts agriculture producers make every day to feed, clothe, and fuel the world. Farmers and ranchers are the lifeblood to our food security, and a nation that cannot feed itself would not be a nation at all."
Kerry's attack came in his keynote address at the May 10 climate summit, which was hosted by the Biden administration Department of Agriculture. He urged agriculture to curb its emissions, a direct attack on the industry, House Republicans warned.
The special presidential envoy for climate is also a hypocrite, Republicans note.
"Since assuming his post as 'climate czar,' John Kerry has done nothing but fly his private jets around the world and preach his radical gospel for the climate cult," Alford told Fox News.
"His latest remarks about America’s agriculture industry paints a widely inaccurate picture."
Although a March 2021 study in the Nature Food journal found the global food system accounting for 34% of total worldwide emissions, agriculture reportedly amounts to just 10% of emissions in the U.S.
"Mr. Kerry remarks at the AIM Climate Summit are deeply offensive, and I urge everyone in this administration to condemn them," Alford reportedly added. "Anything short is unacceptable."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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